


i'll be home soon

by starfleetbanana



Series: Echoes and souvenirs [3]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eating Disorders, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:10:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9408767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfleetbanana/pseuds/starfleetbanana
Summary: Jim catches a cold, has an existential crisis in the middle & gets a lot of cuddles.Edit: it was tagged as mcspirk, sorry.





	

**Author's Note:**

> listen, I said I'd let go of this series but tbh I use this au to cope and I'm sick and I'm basically Jim Kirk rn (minus the starship & the doctor). self indulgent, probably shitty. not really explicit like the other parts of the series. 
> 
> you don't need to read anything else from the series and this is pre-break the kingdom down so yeah.

“Bones, I’m dying!” Jim said. He’d been complaining all day about how awful he felt every chance he got so Bones had thought the best solution was to let him disappear under the blankets, let him watch whatever he wanted and make him drink as much water as he could. It wasn’t working that well, though.

“You’re not dying, you just caught a common cold” Leonard sighed. He was late for work already and taking care of Jim was stressing him a little too much. Of course he knew he could take care of himself, but he was pretty bad at __actually__  taking care of himself.

“If I wasn’t dying I wouldn’t have caught __a common cold”__ Jim complained again, this time letting one or two blankets fall from the bed so he could look at Leonard with a frown.

“Your immune system’s weak, but you’re not dying, just drink water and stay in bed. I’ll be at the hospital, be back as soon as I can, don’t forget to eat”

Jim sighed in response and let his body relax on the bed once again. He was dramatic, but truth be told he was in a lot of pain. Bones was right, though, he hadn’t been able to keep anything down and that only worsened the situation. He wasn’t getting any better, he was awfully bored and fighting himself a little bit so he wouldn’t end up breaking his own self-imposed rules.

He’d had a fever going up and down for at least three days and it was exhausting. Jim Kirk was not used to having a stuffy nose and he hated how heavy his entire body felt. Watching cartoons should’ve helped but it wasn’t making it any better either because his eyes hurt too.

He heard a quiet ‘bye’ from the hall before the door closed. He was sick and tired and bored and alone.  

All in all he had only one thing to do: He had to wait for Bones to come home and it was going to be goddamn hard when all he’d eaten was a boring tasteless piece of toast and bananas because “Jim, your potassium’s always low, quit arguing with me, you’re not allergic”.

He carried his blanket nest into the living room, hoping walking would make him feel less dead. He didn’t even waste time pretending to sit on the sofa assessing his options before using the replicator. It was going to be quick, and it had to be something soft because his throat and stomach hurt so much.

“I can’t even have a mental illness break when I’m already sick, can’t I?” He asked himself in the middle of kitchen. He made sure to drink a glass of water before eating anything but it was stupid, he knew it. He’d end up feeling worse if he was dehydrated.

Of course he’d been right, he’d always been right when it came to his eating disorder because if he was in pain before, now, right after spending a few minutes in front of the toilet, he was dying. Maybe he was a little dramatic, sure, but then again every time his insides tried to do something he felt it and it was like getting stabbed -and oh boy, he’d been stabbed before-.

* * *

 

“I told you to stay in bed, you’ll be hurting all over” Bones’ voice woke him up. Of course he’d be looking at him with a scowl when he opened his eyes but Jim was very reluctant to open his eyes if the lights were that bright, “Come on let’s get you to bed” He continued in a lower voice, taking half the blankets with him as he helped Jim up.

It was a harder task than he’d imagined because he was dizzy and his muscles weren’t cooperating with the situation at all, but there was Leonard holding him up and waiting for him to keep walking even when he groaned most of the way back into their bedroom.

“Does my face look really puffy right now? It feels really puffy” Jim asked when Bones finally let go of him and he threw himself on the bed, blankets forgotten all over the floor. His head was pounding even though he’d made sure to drink water afterwards too.

“You look like shit, Jim” Bones said with a smile on his face, getting out of his cozy looking clothes under Jim’s gaze, “And here I am, taking care of you, again”

Jim huffed and crossed his arms on his chest. It was a hard thing to appear exasperated and a little bit offended with puffy eyes and lying on your bed, but at least he was making an effort.

“Did you take your meds?” Jim nodded, “Did you keep them down?” Jim shrugged.

It was an easy thing between them, really. Or at least it felt like it’d always be that way. He never felt trapped when he was with Leonard and he wasn’t making him make any choices based on urgency, he wanted Jim to be sure, and if leaving his ship wasn’t convincing enough, being dehydrated while having a cold definitely was.

After Bones handed him another glass of water and one tablet he finally closed his eyes again and attempted to relax despite how much his entire body hurt. He felt Leonard’s weight on the mattress a minute later. 

“I slept all day and I’m exhausted”

That cold was never going away.

Bones hummed and scooted closer, resting his cheek on Jim’s shoulder. His skin was still too hot and a little bit clammy, but the fever would go down soon, at least that made him feel less awful about not being able to do anything for Jim to get better.

“The future’s useless if __common colds__ are still common” Jim’s fingers carded through Leonard’s hair. It was a bit longer and messier and he tugged a little just to make a point, “I don’t wanna get you all sick and gross too, Bones” Jim said, but still turned to face Bones and hide his face in the crook of his neck. He was warm and the way his arms wrapped around him felt perfect and damn it, Jim didn’t want to let go because it felt better than all those blankets.

“You’re gonna cut off the circulation in my arm, darlin’” Bones whispered in that stupid low voice that made Jim’s breath hitch even when he was talking about common colds and hyposprays. He sighed and shifted a little bit so Bones’ arm wouldn’t be under him.

“Just gimme five minutes like this” Jim said, muffled against the soft material of Bones’ shirt while he nuzzled the skin of his neck.

Jim __wanted__  to worry about Bones’ health but honestly when their legs were tangled like that and Leonard’s strong arms held him close he couldn’t help but want to stay there forever. Bones chuckled and placed his hand on the nape of Jim’s neck, keeping him in place. Jim felt like he was melting under his touch.

“We’ve all night, sweetheart”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed what came from my misery (drama queen™), any kind of feedback is appreciated and honestly you can go to @ltjaylah on tumblr if you wanna talk about this au because im still not sure this is gonna be the last fic, or w/e


End file.
